Archive for the ‘Blog Comments’ Category

If a PR professional is looking to create positive PR for their client, which they should already be doing, then achieving that goal while also helping less fortunate people, like the people of Haiti, is great. For instance, if I’m in the market for a Chevy truck and my best friend owns a Chevy dealership, I’m going to choose to buy my truck at my friend’s dealership because I can help them while doing something I was already planning to do. I think it’s preferable for there to be noble motivations behind helping countries like Haiti, but in the end, what they need is to be helped even if someone is looking to bring attention to themselves in the process.

Great post, Mandee. I think the most exciting thing that Professor Nixon mentioned when she told us that we would maintain our own blog was the possibility of professional opportunities. The reality that networking has evolved into a much bigger arena has become apparent to me during this class. Staying up to date on current events has also been helpful. In college, I think it’s easy to stay in the bubble of your campus without realizing what is going on around the world. But because of this class, I feel like I’ve kept up with current events through online sources more than I would have without being in the class.

This is the single biggest reason that PR interested me when I was looking at college majors. The ability to turn negative perception of the public into something that positively reflects your company. The main theme I get from your post is to be prepared for crisis. Expect them to happen, and then make a detailed plan for multiple scenarios so that when the time comes, your company won’t be caught off guard. I wonder if say, Coke vs. Pepsi commercials fall under the predator category? One company is trying to make the other look bad, so is there a plan of what to do in retaliation, or does it just slide by?

This a neat post, Mandee. When I took some of my business classes, something that was continuously taught in every textbook was cultural sensitivity. While etiquette for business lunches or dinners may be very different in Japan, other things are different as well. For instance, marketing campaigns – watch out! Some ads on television in America would cause a riot in another country. Doing proper research before launching a marketing or public relations strategy for a client is crucial. Goodwill toward your client is what you want, and paying little attention to different cultural differences could result in looking for another job! Yikes!

I have quite a few friends who live near Cleveland, and Lebron James is a sore subject for them. The city feels betrayed. Many of the people who tried to make sure he would have a future, feel like he’s throwing the opportunities back in their faces. Ever since he made the announcement to go to play for the Miami Heat, he’s been under attack. And the notion to make a commercial like this as a subtle retaliation is not a good idea. I think he needs to let the public settle down before he tries to forcefully change people’s opinions about him and the situation.

When our class first started talking about how to write a good lead, I felt like it was a vague concept with endless nothings of advice. But, I’ve grasped the concept more and more as I’ve written more releases and what not. In any type of writing, captivating your reader’s attention from the beginning of your article is crucial. I know I’m guilty of putting down a good book because I wasn’t interested for the first few chapters. I’ve also noticed that when I read student blogs, the ones I enjoy the most are written conversationally. I can picture my peer saying to me exactly what they wrote. When you can have that kind of real feeling going into the writing, you’re on the right track.

If you are representing a client, in this case, Terrell Owens, your job is to make them look good. If you choose to be apart of a reality show that ultimately blemishes the image of your client, that is contradicting what is expected of you while you are working for your client. Personally, I enjoy some reality tv now and then, but if I were representing Owens, I don’t think I would make the choice to have a reality tv show like his representatives have. I think it’s worth noting that although he has tons of money and fame, he still shows that something is missing and he wants someone to love him.

This movie is a common topic among my friends. Every friend of mine who has seen the movie says that they enjoyed it. Facebook definitely draws intrigue. The mass number of people who have facebook accounts is staggering. Yesterday, I was talking to an international student from Zimbabwe, and they started talking about the fact that their internet connection sometimes blanked out every few weeks, so they were unable to check their Facebook. It really hit me; Facebook really is a global phenomena. I think this movie is a good choice for PR students to watch. Since we’re becoming more and more informed about social media, it will help to know the background story behind these ideas.

The Back to the Future series is one of my all-time favorites. They just don’t make them like that anymore… I’m sure for people like my parents, 1985 doesn’t seem like it was too long ago. Futuristic movies have always been fascinating to me personally, but I especially like the ones that incorporate the factor of present day, like Back to the Future. They show life as was normal for 1985, and then build on that with the futuristic storyline and plot twists. It’s also interesting to watch marketing strategies built around anniversaries of movies. For instance, I heard a rumor that the Star Wars movies will be re-released in theatres for a special anniversary event. Why not keep banking on the franchise popularity?

This group is awesome! The first time I saw Anywhere Improv on YouTube was few years ago when they did the Sound of Music act. I would love to randomly burst out in song with friends at a public place. What an experience that would be, right? You would have a memory for a lifetime to talk about with your friends who did it with you. I like the subway video, but I think I like the stunt with the MP3 the most. People are willing to follow some pretty quirky directions! This is a great way to get people out of their ordinary routine and into a fun activity with people they don’t know.

The first time I heard about TWLOHA was from a Facebook event that I saw a few years ago. I wasn’t really sure what it was but I saw that quite a few of my friends were “attending.” I assumed it was awareness for girls who cut their wrists, but I now know that they try to help people who are struggling with a lot of different things. I think it’s great that the organization is trying to be proactive in helping people with these problems. It’s so easy for someone who is struggling from depression to blend into the background, I mean, that can sometimes be the goal of someone who is depressed. So, it’s awesome that there are people trying to seek out those who would try to hide themselves behind their struggles. Everyone needs to feel like they are cared about, and I’m glad that this organization is trying to do it.

My goodness, what a horrible thing to do: hurl puppies into a river. I like the point that you drive, which is that you can use social media to spread word of something very, very fast. I think an awesome way to use social media would be to notify of missing persons. If someone from a college campus is reported missing, someone could quickly spread the news through social media so that people could be alert. Also, including a picture of the missing person would be ideal, so that it could be posted on Facebook or Twitter. But actually, I wonder if a case would be made against neglecting the privacy of the missing person by posting their picture all over the internet. If they are rescued because of it, then why would they make a fuss? But in today’s world, I wonder if that might happen. Either way, social media can certainly be used as a way to spread good and bad news in a timely manner.

This is such a helpful post! Thank you for writing it. What you say is so true. Your brain fills in the blanks when you’re reading through a paper. I find that the more I try to revise a paragraph, the more errors I find later on when I read it again, because my brain really was working faster than my fingers. I admit, sometimes I’m not sure who to ask to proof read my papers, because I don’t know if they are grammar sticklers (which is what I want) or lenient enablers. I suppose if I am going to proof read one of my own papers, doing it the next morning will give me a better chance of catching mistakes because my mind will be less cluttered from what has happened that day and I will be refreshed from sleeping.

This really is such a sad story. It’s unbelievable that things like this happen. It’s quite timely that you post this now. Just about two hours ago, my roommate saw the story online and showed it to me. I was stunned when she explained to me what happened. Stories like this one really disturb me. Killing a baby because you couldn’t play FarmVille without background noise? I’m floored. Mistakes like this have life long consequences, and it’s just a very sad story any way you look at it. I wonder if there are any other stories similar to this story.

You are so right, PR OpenMic is a one-stop-shop. I was expecting something like NewsU, but this seemed less intimidating once I went to the website. I like that it has a social networking feel to it because it feels like something I’m somewhat used to already because of Facebook. I think I like the Internship/Job Search feature the best. As a college student, I’m interested in researching internships. And when I graduate, searching for a job will also become important. I think that the availability of all the videos and posts will come in handy for staying up to date on what’s going on in the world of Public Relations.

I think it’s great that more people will be focusing on reaching the people of New York City. Hopefully, many people will turn the hype into actually visiting and then serving with the church. New York City is such a unique mission field, because there are so many people on such a small amount of land. I went to New York City for the first time last December and didn’t notice many contemporary churches as I walked around Manhattan. Hopefully it the new church will also provide an opportunity for Christians to connect with other Christians for support. I would definitely like to visit the new Hillsong church next time I go up there.

Good post. I think that the tabloids are definitely glamorizing teen pregnancy. It’s scary that so many girls try to model their lives after people who have fame to the point that they would try to get pregnant to get on a television show. It doesn’t just change the life of the girl who tries to get pregnant. If she succeeded, it would change the life of the father and both families represented. This story really saddens me. Girls are worth so much more than they really believe – and not for how they can seduce a man to get them pregnant for fame.

I respect that you tried to use your television time to be productive. You did a better job than I did during the summer, although I do remember watching some Unwrapped shows. But what a neat restaurant! I want to go to Chicago now just so I can visit. I really want to try the dessert nachos. That is such an interesting concept for a menu, including the fact that you can actually eat the menu. Thanks for posting the video. That helped bring the blog to life. Do you have to buy a special cable package to watch the show?

The Social Network, Gracey Somers. October 15, 2010

I really want to see this movie! First of all, what a pretty song, strange maybe, and with a hint of despair, but very pretty. Some of the words in that song are so true, though. Maybe that’s why it’s a bit sad.Thanks for putting up the trailer. One of my close friends saw it and said it’s definitely worth seeing. When I first saw the trailer a while back, I wondered if it was going to be similar to the story about Bill Gates stealing ideas to start Microsoft. I’m not very familiar with either story, but they are definitely intriguing.

Good post, Jessica! That firm sounds fabulous! I’m interested in talking to you about Boston. I’m definitely going to look into learning more about 5s pr. Are there other firms you’ve discovered that you are interested in working with?. I can somewhat relate to your thoughts about PR and journalism, but reversed. I actually went into PR while hoping to avoid journalism as much as possible, but I’ve now realized that expectation is definitely not realistic! I’ve found myself enjoying writing more and more because of all the blogs professor Nixon has been assigning us. I hope you get to do everything you hope at your job. Good luck with the job hunting!

It seems that these days, more and more companies are trying to keep up with an evolving culture that they forget about their entire customer base and only focus on younger buyers. There is nothing wrong with being “cutting edge” but there has to be caution when considering standards pertaining to potentially very offensive advertising campaigns. Some advertising campaigns could offend the public so much that they could lose money rather than make profit, shattering the original intent. MAC will probably be fine because they have such a large following. But the certainly need to reconsider the approach they want to take when introducing new product lines so they won’t generate a mass of negative press.

This is the first I’ve heard about this news story. Just goes to show you how passionate sports fans are about their favorite players. For that matter, people seem to be obsessed with the personal lives of many celebrities that they like. In my opinion, reality is Carmelo Anthony’s personal life with his wife isn’t really any of the public’s business. Switching teams is certainly an understandable concern for fans, but criticizing it with the knowledge that it would be in order to be closer to his wife seems childish. What is more important, a successful marriage or a renewed sports contract? I think the answer is a successful marriage.

Good post, Amanda. I agree, this situation definitely got out of hand. The actions by this man could be cause for more Americans to be targeted by Islamic terror groups. I like your point about freedom of speech, and I also think that he had the right to voice his opinion about the matter. But he obviously took it too far and ego certainly could have played into his consistent refusal to back down. It seems a lot of people use the media to gain attention. Actors use the media to get attention in order to promote movies, clothing lines, fragrances, and so on. Activists use the media to spread awareness about a cause important. The media can definitely be used to spread information. I hope people use the power carefully in the future as they consider strategies to spread their messages.

Good post, Gracey! Grammar Girl articles are so useful, and they’re cute too. How can you go wrong? Honestly, I didn’t really know the answer either until I read your post. There seem to be a lot of common usage problems I’m running into. I didn’t seem to notice them earlier, but maybe that’s because I was avoiding them because I didn’t know how to use things like “who” and “whom” correctly. I wonder if they ever went over this stuff with us in school? I’m glad we’re learning how to avoid common mistakes so we can be more professional and ready to get going in our careers!

Noelle, what a great post! I got excited about the class while I read this. I’m only in my third week of the class, but I’m looking forward to assignments more now and moving away from dreading them. You explained very well how this class will help me if I put in good effort and commitment. I think I might be looking forward to the personality profile assignment the most after reading your post. My parents have been teaching me different things about personality types since I was born. Using the knowledge in an interview could prove very useful. I can’t wait to have my first interview so I can get some nerves out of the way and get some experience.